The Hanover Area Family YMCA in Pennsylvania has announced receipt of a $750,000 grant from the J. William Warehime Foundation to expand aquatic facilities. The contribution is expected to cover nearly 75% of the cost of the organization’s new warm-water pool construction. The Foundation, which was founded by area businessman J. William Warehime, noted that this is their first grant since the founder’s death in January of last year, according to coverage in the Daily Record/Sunday News. Foundation director Linda Lohr told the paper that the contribution was in the spirit of Mr. Warehime’s commitment to local causes. “We were looking for worthwhile things in the Hanover area that would make a positive impact to the people in the area,” Ms. Lohr explained, adding, “A lot of people go through those doors.”

The Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas will be receiving a contribution of $5 million from Kris Engelstad-McGarry on behalf of the Engelstad Family. According to Fox 5 Vegas, $2.5 million will be used for reconstruction of the Boys and Girls Club on Dumont Street, $1 million will be create an endowment for building maintainence and $1.5 million will be dedicated to college scholarships for Boys and Girls Club youth.

Upward Bound House, a social service agency providing housing and supportive services to homeless families in Los Angeles, received a $100,000 contribution from Robert and Marion Wilson, donors who helped found Upward Bound House’s Family Place in 1997. According to the Santa Monica Daily News, the gift will support the construction of the only emergency shelter for families with children on the Westside of Los Angeles.

Nefesh B’Nefesh received a contribution of $8 million from Guma Aguiar, founder of Leor Energy, to support the organization’s work in bringing Jews from the West to live in Israel. “These vital funds strengthen Israel’s human resources and ensure its future. The gift has already played a major role in helping Nefesh B’Nefesh bring a record number of newcomers to Israel in 2008,” said Tony Gelbart, Co-Founder and Chairman.Approximately 18,000 people have moved to Israel with Nefesh B’Nefesh’s assistance to date and another 12,000 are “in the pipeline,” according to the organization.According to a news release on the gift, Mr. Aguiar is now serving as Chairman of Finance on the Nefesh B’Nefesh board of directors.

Montclair State University has received an anonymous donation of $5 million, the largest such gift in the institution’s history. According to announcement by the University News division, the funds will be used principally to fund scholarships to women and minorities.

The University of Illinois has just announced receipt of a $12 million endowment gift from the estate of 1944 alumnae Arlys Streitmatter Conrad. The gift will be shared equally by the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). Mrs. Conrad had worked at S&C Electric […]

Over 100 public schools in northeastern Oklahoma will receive more than $3 million from The Cherokee Nation in 2009. The donation will come from revenue generated by tribal car tag sales. As principal Chief Chad Smith said at a news conference announcing the gift, “Innovative educational programs continue to be a priority as we plan […]

In February, John M. Shapiro and Shonni J. Silverberg made a gift of $3.5 million to “transform the teaching of writing” at Wesleyan University and endow institution’s Creative Writing Center. The donors asked that $2.5 million of the gift be used to endow a faculty position in writing and that the remaining $1 million support […]

Jarvis Christian College has received $250,000 from an anonymous member of the Northway Christian Church. The contribution, announced by Jarvis in January, will be used to endow a scholarship for a Northway student to attend the school. Jarvis and Northway have a strong relationship, according to the Longview News-Journal, with the church supporting the co […]

The UCLA Library has received $5 million from the Arcadia Fund to “further develop, preserve and make accessible its collections,” according to the UCLA Newsroom. This is the largest single gift for collections in the history of the library. The Arcadia Fund, a British grantmaking fund administered by Charities Aid Foundation which has made several […] […]

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation has pledged $1 million to The UCLA Foundation to fund an endowed chair in clinical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The focus of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Endowed Chair in Interdepartmental Clinical Pharmacology will be to catalyze the UCLA’s current program by […] […]

The UCLA Anderson School of Management has announced a $1 million gift from Board of Visitors member Richard S. Ziman, chairman of American Value Partners and co-chair of the school’s $100 million fundraising campaign. One half of the contribution will fund the new Richard S. Ziman Fellowship, which will support graduate students studying real estate, […] […]

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has announced receipt of a $2 million gift from Renee Haugerud and John H. Murphy. According to the Times Free Press, the contribution will be split with $1.5 million to establish the Renee Haugerud and John H. Murphy Global Finance Center at the business school and the remaining $500,000 […]

Hong Kong martial arts action star Jackie Chan is donating historical Chinese houses valued at over US$67 million (S$101 million) to a new Singaporean university slated to open in 2011. According to reports in AFP, Chan will give the campus seven wooden houses and a performing stage from his private collection which date to the […]